China's GDP growth is forecasted to be 8.7 percent for 2011, a slow down from 10 percent forecast annual growth last year, but inflation remains the biggest challenge for China's economy in the months to come.

China's soaring property prices will hinder the country's urbanization and also exacerbate the income distribution gap, Li Daokui, an adviser at the People's Bank of China, said on Tuesday at a financial forum in Beijing.

Beijing is serious with its efforts to tame inflation, as the central bank raised the banks' reserve requirement ratios unexpectedly on Friday for the fourth time in 70 days. Analysts suggest there will be more tightening measures in the first quarter.

Work on the country's first power plant using thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) modules will begin this year, amid prospects for a brighter future if the long-awaited price-setting mechanism for solar power is put in place, analysts said Thursday.

Chinese President Hu Jintao urged an end to a "zero sum" Cold War relationship with the United States and proposed new cooperation, but resisted US arguments about why China should let its currency strengthen.

As the United States struggles to shake off the shadow of the financial crisis, many US companies are increasing their investments in China -- betting that the country will continue to deliver high growth for years to come.

The first month of direct trading of the Chinese yuan and Russian ruble has been a good start, with stable demand for the Chinese currency, a senior official at the Moscow International Currency Exchange (MICEX), said Saturday.